What is considered to be Divine Comedy?
The Divine Comedy is often considered an epic. It is common to associate epics with larger-than-life heroes and grand illustrations of warfare (think of Homer's works), making The Divine Comedy an atypical example of the genre. For one thing, Dante is a rather passive hero figure. He has to be...
What is the moral lesson of Divine Comedy?
What is the moral lesson of the Divine Comedy? The standard that evil is to be punished and good rewarded is written into the very fabric of the Divine Comedy, and it’s a standard Dante uses to measure the deeds of all men, even his own. Moral judgments require courage, because in so judging, a man must hold himself and his own actions to the ...
Is the Divine Comedy a difficult read?
You're browsing the GameFAQs Message Boards as a guest. Sign Up for free (or Log In if you already have an account) to be able to post messages, change how messages are displayed, and view media in posts. Is The Divine Comedy a difficult read? It's not difficult reading, per se, but it requires a knowledge of Italy in Dante's era.
Who are the characters in Divine Comedy?
Divine Comedy: Character Profiles. Dante- Dante acts as both the narrator and the main character of The Divine Comedy. Although it took Dante many years to complete Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, Dante writes the epic poems as if he has just returned from his divine journey. Dante meets hundreds of characters, sinners and saints, who treat ...
What is the moral lesson of The Divine Comedy?
The standard that evil is to be punished and good rewarded is written into the very fabric of the Divine Comedy, and it's a standard Dante uses to measure the deeds of all men, even his own. Moral judgments require courage, because in so judging, a man must hold himself and his own actions to the very same standard.
What is important about Divine Comedy?
The Divine Comedy is a fulcrum in Western history. It brings together literary and theological expression, pagan and Christian, that came before it while also containing the DNA of the modern world to come. It may not hold the meaning of life, but it is Western literature's very own theory of everything.
How does The Divine Comedy end?
The Divine Comedy ends with Dante trying to understand how the circles fit together, and how the humanity of Christ relates to the divinity of the Son but, as Dante puts it, "that was not a flight for my wings".
What is the main point of The Divine Comedy?
The main theme of The Divine Comedy is the spiritual journey of man through life. In this journey he learns about the nature of sin and its consequences. And comes to abhor it (sin) after understanding its nature and how it corrupts the soul and draws man away from God.
What are the three parts of Divine Comedy?
Divided into three major sections—Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso—the narrative traces the journey of Dante from darkness and error to the revelation of the divine light, culminating in the Beatific Vision of God.
For what is Dante's Divine Comedy best known?
Widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, Dante's Divine Comedy is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature.
Why is Dante's Inferno called a comedy?
The poem is called a "comedy" in the medieval-Aristotelian sense that it leads from misery to a state of happiness. Dante's salvation is "comic" in that it culminates in joy.
What is the message of Dante's Inferno?
The theme of equilibrium between reason and faith is one of the core messages of Inferno and it is essential in conveying the main idea of the Divine Comedy and of the pilgrim's journey that the exploitation of intellect and the misuse of will is the cause of sin, and that through faith, those who are morally lost find ...
What is the main idea of Dante's Inferno?
The main themes in Dante's Inferno are morality and divine justice, the soul's journey, and the poet's vocation. Morality and divine justice: The correspondence between the sinners' actions and their punishments in hell indicates Dante's belief in the fairness of divine authority.
What is Inferno story all about?
0:095:52Dante's Inferno | Summary & Analysis - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipInferno is an exceptionally imaginative poem of immense scale and emotional power it's an adventureMoreInferno is an exceptionally imaginative poem of immense scale and emotional power it's an adventure story a metaphysical epic of mind and spirit that takes the reader through purgatory the monster
What is the theme of the Divine Comedy?
Love is a significant theme in The Divine Comedy. Love becomes sinful when driven by pride, envy, or wrath. It is also sinful when it is sloth or weak, or too strong via lust, gluttony, or greed.
How many lines are there in Divine Comedy?
The three aforementioned sections in literary terms are known as canticas and total 14,233 lines. Each cantica is made up of thirty-three cantos, once again giving significance to the number “three.”. The poem has an introduction, which is ...
What is Dante Alighieri's pilgrimage?
In this three-part epic poem, Dante Alighieri takes his readers on a pilgrimage to Heaven via journeys first through Hell and Purgatory. It is a spiritual journey expounding the evils of sin through the first-person narration of the aptly named main character , Dante the Pilgrim. The title, The Divine Comedy, is not an implication ...
What do the three animals that attack Dante symbolize?
The three animals that attack Dante symbolize the sins of being self-indulgent, violent, and malicious. Hell is structured as nine circles into which sinners are classified. Those suffering from incontinence or lack of restraint fall into circles one through five. Pride or violence make up circles six and seven.
What are the cardinal virtues of heaven?
The initial seven spheres of Heaven are concerned with the cardinal virtues of prudence, fortitude, justice, and temperance and are where those embodying said virtues find themselves.
Why are souls escorted to heaven?
Souls are escorted there by angels with the hope that they might attain divine grace. The structure of Purgatory from a scientific perspective shows a medieval knowledge of the Earth as a sphere. On the final leg of his pilgrimage, Beatrice escorts Dante through Paradiso, that is, Heaven.
What is Dante's sin in Inferno?
The opening section of the poem, Inferno, finds Dante lost in sin, symbolically depicted as a dark wood. He is attacked by a lion, a leopard, and a she-wolf and cannot find a way out to safety, or in the religious context of the poem, salvation. This situation is represented by a mountain obscuring the sun.
What is the Divine Comedy?
The Divine Comedy, Italian La divina commedia, original name La commedia, long narrative poem written in Italian circa 1308–21 by Dante. It is usually held to be one of the world’s great works of literature. Divided into three major sections— Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso —the narrative traces the journey of Dante from darkness and error to ...
Who translated the Divine Comedy?
Henry Boyd produced one of the early English-language translations of The Divine Comedy; it was published in 1802. Notable translations of the 20th and early 21st centuries include those by John D. Sinclair (1939–48), Dorothy L. Sayers and Barbara Reynolds (1949–62), Charles S. Singleton (1970–75), John Ciardi (1977), Allen Mandelbaum (1980–84), ...
What are the three sections of Dante's vision?
Divided into three major sections— Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso —the narrative traces the journey of Dante from darkness and error to the revelation of the divine light, culminating in the Beatific Vision of God.
Who is Dante and Virgil?
Photos.com/Getty Images. Dante is guided by the Roman poet Virgil, who represents the epitome of human knowledge, from the dark wood through the descending circles of the pit of Hell ...
Who is Dante met by?
There Dante is met by Beatrice, embodying the knowledge of divine mysteries bestowed by Grace, who leads him through the successive ascending levels of heaven to the Empyrean, where he is allowed to glimpse, for a moment, the glory of God. Britannica Quiz. Literature of Italy Quiz.
Where did Dante and Virgil emerge from?
Passing Lucifer at the pit’s bottom, at the dead centre of the world, Dante and Virgil emerge on the beach of the island mountain of Purgatory. At the summit of Purgatory, where repentant sinners are purged of their sins, Virgil departs, having led Dante as far as human knowledge is able, to the threshold of Paradise.
What is the theme of love in the Divine Comedy?
However, Dante's illustrative examples of sin and virtue draw on classical sources as well as on the Bible and on contemporary events. Love, a theme throughout the Divine Comedy, is particularly important for the framing of sin on the Mountain of Purgatory.
How many lines are there in the Divine Comedy?
The Divine Comedy is composed of 14,233 lines that are divided into three cantiche (singular cantica ) – Inferno ( Hell ), Purgatorio ( Purgatory ), and Paradiso ( Paradise ) – each consisting of 33 cantos (Italian plural canti ). An initial canto, serving as an introduction to the poem and generally considered to be part of the first cantica, brings the total number of cantos to 100. It is generally accepted, however, that the first two cantos serve as a unitary prologue to the entire epic, and that the opening two cantos of each cantica serve as prologues to each of the three cantiche.
What is the mountain Dante climbs?
Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom to the Mountain of Purgatory on the far side of the world. The Mountain is on an island, the only land in the Southern Hemisphere, created by the displacement of rock which resulted when Satan's fall created Hell (which Dante portrays as existing underneath Jerusalem ). The mountain has seven terraces, corresponding to the seven deadly sins or "seven roots of sinfulness." The classification of sin here is more psychological than that of the Inferno, being based on motives, rather than actions. It is also drawn primarily from Christian theology, rather than from classical sources. However, Dante's illustrative examples of sin and virtue draw on classical sources as well as on the Bible and on contemporary events.
What is the Purgatorio in Dante's Divine Comedy?
The Purgatorio repeatedly refers to the implications of a spherical Earth, such as the different stars visible in the southern hemisphere, the altered position of the sun, and the various time zones of the Earth. For example, at sunset in Purgatory it is midnight at the Ebro, dawn in Jerusalem, and noon on the River Ganges:
What are the parts of Dante's Inferno?
It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso . The narrative takes as its literal subject the state of the soul after death and presents an image of divine justice meted out as due punishment or reward, and describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory , and Paradise or Heaven.
What is Dante's final authority?
Dante also treats the Bible as a final authority on any matter, including on subjects scripture only approaches allegorically. The Divine Comedy is also a product of Scholasticism, especially as expressed by St. Thomas Aquinas.
What is Dante's vision of heaven?
However, Dante admits that the vision of heaven he receives is merely the one his human eyes permit him to see, and thus the vision of heaven found in the Cantos is Dante's personal vision. The Divine Comedy finishes with Dante seeing the Triune God.
What happened to Dante on Good Friday?
At the age of thirty-five, on the night of Good Friday in the year 1300, Dante finds himself lost in a dark wood and full of fear. He sees a sun-drenched mountain in the distance, and he tries to climb it, but three beasts, a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf, stand in his way. Dante is forced to return to the forest where he meets the spirit ...
What does Dante see in the fourth chasm?
In the fourth chasm, Dante sees the Fortune Tellers and Diviners, who spend eternity with their heads on backwards and their eyes clouded by tears. At the fifth chasm, the poets see the sinners of Graft plunged deeply into a river of boiling pitch and slashed at by demons.
What is the ninth circle in Dante's book?
Here they see the sinners afflicted with terrible plagues, some unable to move, some picking scabs off of one another. They arrive at the ninth circle. It is comprised of a giant frozen lake, Cocytus, in which the sinners are stuck. Dante believes that he sees towers in the distance, which turn out to be the Giants.
Where do the poets go in the book of Virgil?
The poets reach the banks of the river Acheron where souls await passage into Hell proper. The ferryman, Charon, reluctantly agrees to take the poets across the river to Limbo, the first circle of Hell, where Virgil permanently resides.
Who does Dante speak to?
Dante speaks to Ulysses, who gives him an account of his death. At the ninth chasm, the poets see a mass of horribly mutilated bodies. They were the sowers of discord, such as Mahomet. They are walking in a circle. By the time they come around the circle, their wounds knit, only to be opened again and again.
Who does Dante speak to in Circle VII?
He also speaks to his beloved advisor and scholar, Brunetto Latini.
Who is crucified at the sixth chasm?
The chief sinner here, Caiaphas, is crucified on the ground, and all of the other sinners must step on him to pass.
What is The Divine Comedy by Dante?
The Divine Comedy is a famous 14th century work that explores the three different realms of the Christian afterlife as described by its author, Dante Alighieri. Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265, and he spent most of his life in Italy until his death in 1321.
Summary of The Divine Comedy
In Inferno, Dante, along with his first guide, the Roman poet Virgil, makes his way through the realm of eternal punishment.
Summary of Dante's Inferno
In Inferno, Dante is lost both figuratively and literally, wandering through a dark forest after the death of his love, Beatrice. Dante explains that Beatrice was also his muse, or the inspiration for many of his works. He then meets Virgil.
What is the plot of the Divine Comedy?
The plot of the Divine Comedy is thus very simple: it is the narrative of Dante's journey towards redemption. The Inferno is generally thought to be the best and most interesting part, which may be a result of its inverse structure: the moral plot is less visible because Dante descends into Hell. God is almost totally absent, ...
What is the Inferno poem about?
The Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri 's poem, the Divine Comedy, which chronicles Dante 's journey to God, and is made up of the Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise). The poems are quite short: it would take about as long to read the whole Inferno as it would to read the detailed canto summaries and analyses, ...
What happened when Dante awoke?
When Dante awoke they were in the third circle, where the gluttons were punished. After Virgil pacified the doglike demon Cerberus, they saw where the gluttons lay in the mud, tormented by a heavy, cold rain. One of them, Ciacco, predicted the political future of Florence for Dante.
Why was Dante scared of the Devil?
Virgil convinced the Malebranche that they should be allowed to pass unharmed, and they were given an escort of demons. As they were passing along, one sinner did not dive into the pitch fast enough and was caught by a devil.
What was the structure of Hell in Dante's Dis?
Taking a moment to get used to the stench, Virgil explained to Dante the structure of Hell. It was cone shaped and was made up of increasingly tight circles. In Dis they would see the punishments of the violent, the fraudulent, and traitors.
What is Dante's fear of Beatrice?
Dante is a little frightened, but is encouraged by the thought that Beatrice is looking over him. First Dante and Virgil go through the space outside Hell in the underworld, where the neutral spirits, who were neither good nor bad, are left to bewail their fate neither Heaven nor Hell will accept them.
Where did Dante and Virgil go to safety?
Eventually pursued by irate devils, Dante and Virgil quickly went to safety in the sixth pouch of Malebolge, where hypocrites were made to wear heavy lead robes. They included two Jovial Friars, dishonest leaders of Florence.
What does John ask Dante about Eden?
John questions him, and Dante responds successfully; his vision is restored. Adam soon appears, and he informs Dante about his experience in Eden. The souls of Paradise sing, and Dante becomes drunk on joy. Peter criticizes the pope and prophecies, and after this, Beatrice and Dante ascend.
What does Aquinas tell Dante about his eventual return to his flesh?
Aquinas addresses Dante’s questions about the imperfections in the world and warns that people ought to withhold judgment. Beatrice then prods Aquinas to tell Dante about their eventual (and glorious) return to their flesh, and Dante’s eyes fail him as the other souls sing in assent.
What planet does Beatrice and Dante ascend to?
Dante and Beatrice soon ascend to the second sphere of heaven: Mercury. There, Beatrice and the planet shine even brighter than before. Souls come to them, inquisitive, and Dante asks one who it is. The soul reveals itself to be Justinian, emperor of Rome.
What does Dante look at Beatrice?
Now in a sphere full of stars, Dante praises God. Beatrice has him look at how far they’ve come, and earth, from that height, seems impossibly small and insignificant. Dante looks to Beatrice, and the sight of her makes him feel a sort of ecstasy, as his mind is expanded and his sight strengthened.
What does Peter say about Beatrice and Dante?
Beatrice is now indescribably beautiful and tells Dante that they are nearing God. A point of light appears, surrounded by nine rings; these are the different orders of Angels, Beatrice explains, aflame and moving.
Where does Dante's Paradiso begin?
Dante ’s Paradiso begins in heaven, suffused by divine light. The poet invokes the muses and Apollo and then turns to the narrative, describing how Beatrice is looking towards the sun. Dante and Beatrice talk, and soon Beatrice reveals that they are on the moon. A light appears to them alongside opalescent faces.
Who is Dante approached by?
Dante is approached by a being of light, who gives him instruction and reveals himself to be Peter Damian, a saint. When Peter criticizes the religious officials of Dante’s day, the souls let out a terrifying scream of rage. Dante is taken aback, but Beatrice calms him.
Overview
Structure and story
The Divine Comedy is composed of 14,233 lines that are divided into three cantiche (singular cantica) – Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise) – each consisting of 33 cantos (Italian plural canti). An initial canto, serving as an introduction to the poem and generally considered to be part of the first cantica, brings the total number of cantos to 100. It is generally accepted, however, that the first two cantos serve as a unitary prologue to the entire epic, and th…
History
According to the Italian Dante Society, no original manuscript written by Dante has survived, although there are many manuscript copies from the 14th and 15th centuries – some 800 are listed on their site.
The first printed edition was published in Foligno, Italy, by Johann Numeister and Evangelista Angelini da Trevi on 11 April 1472. Of the 300 copies printed, fourteen still survive. The original pr…
Thematic concerns
The Divine Comedy can be described simply as an allegory: each canto, and the episodes therein, can contain many alternative meanings. Dante's allegory, however, is more complex, and, in explaining how to read the poem (see the Letter to Cangrande) he outlines other levels of meaning besides the allegory: the historical, the moral, the literal, and the anagogical.
The structure of the poem is also quite complex, with mathematical and numerological patterns …
Influences
Without access to the works of Homer, Dante used Virgil, Lucan, Ovid, and Statius as the models for the style, history, and mythology of the Comedy. This is most obvious in the case of Virgil, who appears as a mentor character throughout the first two canticles and who has his epic The Aeneid praised with language Dante reserves elsewhere for Scripture. Ovid is given less explicit praise in the poem, but besides Virgil, Dante uses Ovid as a source more than any other poet, mostly thro…
Literary influence in the English-speaking world and beyond
The Divine Comedy was not always as well-regarded as it is today. Although recognized as a masterpiece in the centuries immediately following its publication, the work was largely ignored during the Enlightenment, with some notable exceptions such as Vittorio Alfieri; Antoine de Rivarol, who translated the Inferno into French; and Giambattista Vico, who in the Scienza nuova and in the Giudizio su Dante inaugurated what would later become the romantic reappraisal of Dante, juxta…
In the arts
The Divine Comedy has been a source of inspiration for countless artists for almost seven centuries. There are many references to Dante's work in literature. In music, Franz Liszt was one of many composers to write works based on the Divine Comedy. In sculpture, the work of Auguste Rodin includes themes from Dante, and many visual artists have illustrated Dante's work, as shown by the examples above. There have also been many references to the Divine Comedy in cinema, t…
See also
• Allegory in the Middle Ages
• Book of Arda Viraf
• List of cultural references in Divine Comedy
• Paradise Lost